I never thought that I would see the daywhen there was something that was nearly as universally unpopular as politics in the United States. Sadly, it seems that big time sports are rapidly catching up.
On the professional level, issues of money and financial fairness cost us a third of the 1994 baseball season and half of the 1994-95 hockey season. I suppose that is somewhat understandable. After all, those are professions and big money industries, and thus some financial squabbling, while unfortunate, is inevitable. Unfortunately, though,it has moved down to the next level.
The newspapers report a different instance of a college program violating NCAA standards every week or so. Any Dartmouth student who saw "Hoop Dreams" had to be discouraged with the fact that there are high schools recruiting grammar school kids so that their athletic teams can be successful. Yes, it is undeniable that much of the innocence and beauty of sports are gone, replaced by money.
Fortunately, a few weeks ago I got the opportunity as both a competitor and a spectator to be reminded of what sports should be, and what in some instances they still are. My journey started at the University of New Hampshire during a weekend volleyball tournament in which the Dartmouth Men's Volleyball team, of which I am a member, competed.
Our team, all nine of us at that point, ventured over to UNH to compete in the Flight A Playoffs of the New England Club Volleyball League. After an exhausting day we came home with a third place finish, a fairly impressive accomplishment.
The strong showing was hardly a result of superior talent; rather it was a case of nine players simply wanting to win, and refusing to go down without a fight. It sounds cheesy, but there is really no better way to explain it. Perhaps the most ironic part is that, whereas I think of that third place finish as a result of everything that is right in sports, the reason we were forced to play there is in indication of everything that is wrong.
As most people are probably aware, the Men's Volleyball team was relegated to club status this season as a result of the athletic department's inability to deal with the bureaucracy of maintaining another varsity team. So our opportunities and dreams were limited, not by lack of determination or hard work, but because of something wholly removed from the game.
In the end it didn't really matter what match we were playing. For all we cared it was the NCAA national championship. That sort of passion and desire to excel could only exist because we were playing for "pure" reasons; for the love of the game and the thrill of victory, not for a contract, or a shot at the pros.
After that weekend my faith in sports was somewhat reestablished, at least as a competitor. A few days later I ventured down to Red Rolfe field to watch the Dartmouth Baseball team take on Brown. It was here that upon overhearing a conversation between two older men, my belief that there can still be magic for the fun was reaffirmed.
The two men appeared to be Hanover residents and from the sounds of their discussion they had both watched a lot of Dartmouth baseball. At one point a Brown player hit a deep line drive to center field. Dartmouth outfielder Andrew Spencer '97 raced back and made an impressive catch on the sharply struck ball. The two men cheered loudly and discussed the wonderful play amongst themselves, comparing it to past impressive plays and players they had seen at Dartmouth.
I left the stadium a few innings later and at first I had difficulty determining exactly what about the two men so appealed to me. I had listened to an entire conversation about baseball and the words "salary," "contract," and "strike" never came up. Rather the basis of the game, the skills and efforts of the individual players was the topic of discussion. These two men came to watch Dartmouth baseball that day and for many years before because they enjoyed the sport with no strings attached. They enjoyed it when it was played just to win and for the love the game.
These two experiences were extremely encouraging for me. While I certainly cannot foresee professional sports being returned the innocence of yesteryear, I was delighted to find that at some parts, at some level, sports and the emotions that go with them still exist for both the competitor and the fan.
